The developer, the architect, the contractor, the supplier and the installer each want a different date. Here is how to find the right one.
Ask five people on a new building when the windows should be ordered and you get five answers. The developer wants to hold the money as long as possible. The architect wants the design finished first. The general contractor wants them on site the day the walls are ready. The supplier wants approved drawings. The installer wants openings that are actually built. All five are right, and the order date is the point where their needs meet. This article looks at when to order windows for new construction from each of those angles, then turns them into one timeline.
Order when the sizes are firm, and early enough that the lead time ends before the facade needs windows. Lead time runs from the day the order is released to the factory, which requires approved drawings and a deposit. Two examples from systems we supply:
| System | Where it is made | Typical lead time from release |
|---|---|---|
| Pella (clad wood) | United States | About 3 months |
| Cortizo (aluminum) | Europe | About 4 months |
Add the time it takes to produce shop drawings and get them approved, and the real answer for most buildings is: start the window order four to six months before the first window is needed on site. For a building that must be closed in before winter, that usually means ordering in spring or early summer, while the foundation or the first floors are being built.
From the owner’s side, an early order means paying a deposit months before anything is delivered, often before the construction loan is drawing freely. The temptation is to wait. The cost of waiting is larger than it looks: a building that stands open through the winter cannot be heated, interior trades cannot start, and carrying costs run on every month the opening date slips.
Three things reduce the risk of ordering early. First, lock the price: an order placed now is protected from the next material increase. Second, phase the release, so the deposit covers the first floors and later floors are released as the structure rises. Third, use a system with a shorter lead time for late decisions: a domestic product at about three months gives more room to change your mind than an imported one at about four.
Windows cannot be ordered from a design that is still moving. The architect needs the elevations, the window schedule, the performance requirements and the finish settled, and then needs time to review shop drawings. Every revision after that point costs time, and after fabrication starts it costs money.
The practical step is to freeze the windows earlier than the rest of the design. Sizes, operation, color and glass can be decided at the end of design development even while interiors are still being worked out. If the building is in a historic district, the Landmarks approval has to come first, and the window profile approved there is the one that must be ordered. Allow for at least one round of comments on the shop drawings; two is common.
The contractor works backwards from one date: when the facade at the lowest floor is ready to receive windows. Everything else follows.
Worked example: a building in Brooklyn needs its first windows on June 1. With an imported aluminum system at four months, the order must be released by February 1. With a month for drawings and approval, the window contract has to be signed around the turn of the year. In December the site is a hole in the ground, and that is the right time to be buying windows.
The contractor also cares about sequence. Deliveries should be released by floor so the site is not storing the whole building’s windows, and the first floor should arrive early enough to serve as the mock-up.
From our side, the lead time does not begin when you call. It begins when four things are in hand:
Until then the factory has not started. This is why "we ordered the windows in March" and "the windows were released in May" can describe the same job. Lead times also stretch in busy seasons: factories fill up in spring and summer when everyone is trying to close buildings before winter, and European factories slow down in August. A custom color, oversized glass or a specialty coating can add weeks to any system.
Windows that arrive before the openings are ready are a problem of a different kind. They have to be stored, moved and protected, and every move risks damage. Glass units should not sit in the sun on site for months. The right delivery is a few days ahead of installation, floor by floor.
So the goal is not the earliest possible order; it is the right release date with deliveries staged. If the structure runs late, tell the supplier as soon as you know. Holding finished windows at the shop for a few weeks is easy to arrange with notice and hard to arrange without it.
On a single house the same logic applies on a smaller scale. Order when framing plans are final, not when the framing is finished: with a three-month lead time, windows ordered at the start of foundation work arrive about when the roof goes on. Builders who wait until the house is framed lose those three months with the shell open to the weather. If rough openings might change during framing, have the framer build to the window sizes on the order, not the other way round.
This is the real tension in every new building. Measuring the finished openings gives the most accurate windows but delays the order until the walls exist. Ordering from drawings saves months but relies on the structure being built to size.
On a multi-story building a common compromise is to measure the first floor or two, confirm the builder is holding tolerance, and release the remaining floors from drawings.
Against that, the cost of ordering two months earlier is the interest on a deposit.
| Stage | What happens | Who drives it |
|---|---|---|
| Design development | Window sizes, types, color and glass decided | Architect, developer |
| Pricing | Takeoff and quotes; alternates compared | Supplier, contractor |
| Award | Contract signed | Developer or contractor |
| Shop drawings | Drawn, reviewed, revised, approved | Supplier, architect |
| Release | Dimensions confirmed, deposit paid; lead time starts | All parties |
| Fabrication and shipping | About 3 months domestic, about 4 months from Europe | Factory |
| Delivery | By floor, a few days ahead of installation | Supplier, contractor |
| Installation | Mock-up and test first, then production | Installer |
When sizes are firm and early enough that the lead time ends before the facade is ready. For most buildings that means starting the order four to six months before the first window is needed, often while the foundation is being built.
It depends on the system. As examples, Pella, made in the United States, takes about three months from release; Cortizo aluminum, made in Europe, about four. Custom finishes and busy seasons can add time.
When the order is released to the factory, which needs approved shop drawings or a signed order confirmation, confirmed dimensions, finish selections and the deposit.
In framed walls, order from drawings and frame to the window sizes. In masonry and concrete, build to guaranteed dimensions or measure the first floors and release the rest from drawings.
The order itself rarely is, but delivery can be. Windows should arrive a few days before installation, floor by floor, not sit on site for months.
Tell the supplier early. Production can sometimes be rescheduled, and finished windows can be held for a short time by arrangement.
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About this page. Written by Alex GC Inc. d/b/a Alex Glass Construction and reviewed before publication by Aleksandr Chernovolenko, Managing Partner, with our design and estimating lead and a field foreman. Our foremen hold the NYC DOB Site Safety Training supervisor card and our crews the 40-hour worker card; we are certified to fabricate, install and service Alutech and Everest aluminum systems. Facts are drawn from our own projects, manufacturer test data and the applicable codes; where we are giving an opinion, we say so. Last reviewed September 2026. Credentials
Tell us the date the facade will be ready and send the window schedule. We will work back to the order date and tell you which systems can make it.
